Getting Sweaty With the Vixen Workout

I visit the gym so infrequently, I could probably write off my monthly membership as a charitable donation. But when I received an invitation to a Vixen Workout class—and the instructor was pictured wearing a shirt that said “twerk”—the decision was obvious. I had to attend.

Striptease classes, pole-dancing classes, and whatever other pseudosultry workouts you can imagine, the results are always the same: I feel totally unsexy, marginally sore, and decidedly underwhelmed. And when Vixen Workout founder Janet Jones had us start the class hooting, moaning, bending, and snapping, I was sure this gimmick would be similar. Fast-forward 60 minutes to my drenched shirt and quivering legs (which are still sore three days later). The Vixen Workout officially kicked my ass in the best way possible. There was a lot of thrusting and dipping, but surprisingly, instead of feeling like I was learning a cheesy exotic chair dance for my boyfriend, I felt like I was just dancing and sweating to Beyoncé. I caught up with Jones after the class to find out more.

What inspired you to start Vixen Workout?
“I was a professional dancer, but I decided to give all that up, because at 26, I felt like I wanted to become an adult. To me, that meant having a husband, babies, a corporate job. I was miserable. Then I got laid off, so I started choreographing again. I knew I wanted to create a fitness class like a girls’ night out, where women can let loose. They can do something for themselves. It’s fun, and it kind of helps them get their sexy back.”

How do you come up with the routines?
“It makes no sense, but I just choreograph in my kitchen. It’s where I come up with the best ideas. And I usually test it out on my class. If they react well to it, I’ll keep it going. If they hate it, then I’ll just scrap it. I have a total of 72 routines in the repertoire.”

Your makeup didn’t budge the entire class. How do you keep everything in place?
“I always put a makeup primer on. I’m in love with the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base. And then I do my makeup and spray on the Make It Last Prime and Set Spray from Victoria’s Secret. I was actually in there buying underwear one day, and it was just there in a bin. I thought, OK, let me try it out, not thinking that it was going to work. And it really sets it.”